Fiona has submitted her contribution to the Government's consultation on Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals, calling for the maximum stake to be cut to £2. The consultation follows a campaign by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals, of which Fiona is a member, called for the maximum stake to be cut. The Government consultation titled ‘Consultation on proposals for changes to Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures’ asked the following question:
Do you agree that the maximum stake of £100 on B2 machines (FOBTs) should be reduced? If yes, what alternative maximum stake for B2 machines (FOBTs) do you support?
In responding to the question, Fiona said:
"If the Government is to achieve its aims, stated in the consultation document, of reducing ‘the potential for large session losses’ and reducing ‘potentially harmful impacts on players and their wider communities,’ and ensure that the gambling sector is ‘socially responsible and doing all it should to protect consumers and communities,’ a significant reduction of the maximum stake for B2 machines should be introduced.
The importance of acting on Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) is due to their prevalence, being widely available on high streets, and the financial damage they can quickly cause, with a maximum stake fifty times higher than that of other widely available gaming machines. There are over 33,000 FOBTs in betting shops in the UK, and in 2015/6, there were over 230,000 individual sessions in which a user lost over £1,000.
With their current high maximum stake, these machines fuel high-stakes gambling, cause high levels of gambling harm, and fuel severe gambling-related issues in our society. Problem gambling affects 430,000 people in UK annually, and the Centre for Economic and Business Research (Cebr) recent report estimated that problem gambling costs the UK £1.5bn a year when its impact on wider social welfare is taken into account – including areas such as employment, mental health and financial stability. Addressing FOBTs will particularly contribute towards the Government’s desire to tackle problem gambling, given the high use of FOBTs in betting shops, which is where so many problem gamblers primarily gamble.
In particular, the impact of these machines on the most vulnerable, on those just-about-managing, on employment, and on mental health, mean that significantly reducing the harm caused by them should be at the centre of the Government’s policy priorities. Outside of the gambling industry, there is widespread agreement on the necessity that the maximum stake be reduced to £2. This view is held by 93 local authorities, as well as academics, the Royal Society for Public Health, community groups and faith groups, including the Church of England.
A reduction to £2 would be the correct measure, not least given the findings of the Gambling Commission, which suggest that gambling on FOBTs more commonly correlate with problem gambling. At stakes of £50 or above, £30 or above, and £20 or above, players were more likely to be identified as being problem gamblers than as neither problem nor moderate/low risk gamblers, according to the Gambling Commission’s research in 2017. Only at £2 or below did the Gambling Commission find that those who were neither problem nor moderate/low risk gamblers outnumbered those who were identified as problem gamblers. This emphasises that even a reduction to the Government’s Option 3 (£20) would maintain FOBTs as machines which disproportionately attract and harm problem gamblers. Additionally, it is important to point out that 6% of sessions which ended with losses of over £500 involved an average stake of up to £20. This decreases dramatically to 0.001% for sessions involving an average stake of £2 or less.
Far from being an extreme measure, therefore, a reduction to £2 is the option most likely to produce the ‘balance’ of a growing and socially responsible sector, which the Government has stated is its aim. It is also worth noting, in this context, that Paddy Power agrees on the need for dramatic stake reduction, as it argues this will not adversely impact bookmakers’ businesses. Given the significant damage done to individuals, families and community via high-stakes gambling FOBTs, including at levels between £20 and £50, the Government’s stated commitment to social justice would suggest that the lower £2 maximum stake is the correct policy to ensure a more socially responsible outcome, which protects problems gamblers and those close to them.
Importantly for the Government’s social justice agenda, the main beneficiaries of a reduction to a £2 stake would be those from deprived areas or on lower incomes, particularly as there are twice as many betting shops in the poorest 55 boroughs of the UK, accruing to research by the Cebr. In keeping with the aims of the Government, as stated in the consultation documents, and in line with Government priorities on mental health and social justice, a reduction of the FOBT stake to £2 is the correct policy."